Realme 1 vs Realme 2: One has a notch, the other is fast

The Realme 2 is priced similar to its predecessor, starting at Rs 8,990 for the base variant and Rs 10,990 for the top-end version. But is it better than the Realme 1?

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Sanket Vijayasarathy

New Delhi

August 29, 2018

UPDATED: August 29, 2018 09:50 IST

Realme made its debut earlier this year with the Realme 1, a phone that managed to impress a vast majority of people in India by offering a serious performer at an affordable price. The Realme 1 has sold in large numbers ever since and is among the best sellers on Amazon India. So it was always going to be a challenge for the company to top its first phone, but it is taking that chance with the Realme 2. Announced on Tuesday, the Realme 2 is the company's second smartphone and sits right alongside the Realme 1 in the budget segment.

The Realme 2 (Review) is priced similar to its predecessor, starting at Rs 8,990 for the base variant and Rs 10,990 for the top-end version. Understandably, there is going to be some difficulty for consumers in deciding which of the two Realme phones they should get if they are in the market. While the Realme 1 (Review) focussed on offering good performance at an affordable price, the Realme 2 is about offering the cheapest notched phone you can buy in the market right now, along with a few other popular features consumers look for in a 2018 smartphone. We break down what each phone has to offer.

-- Realme as a brand aims to offer good-looking phones in a budget segment. Both the Realme 1 and Realme 2 phones bring that philosophy to life with glossy rear panels and diamond cut patterns to get your attention. Both bring a compact form factor that's easy enough to operate with one hand. There are some subtle changes on the back such as a fingerprint sensor which is now added on the Realme 2 and a dual camera setup as well.

-- Up front, both the phones offer immersive displays with minimal bezels. The Realme 1 has a 6-inch FHD+ display with an 18:9 aspect ratio and symmetrical bezels on the top and bottom. On the other hand, the Realme 2 stays more close to the industry trend and brings a 6.2-inch notched display, which means even smaller bezels and a larger screen-to-body ratio compared to the Realme 1. However, the tradeoff here is that the display has been downgraded to HD+ (720p) resolution from. This also means pixel density has been reduced to 271ppi from 403ppi.

-- Hardware sees some changes as well. The Realme 1 brings a MediaTek Helio P60 chipset with up to 6GB of RAM. The base variant that's under Rs 10,000 offers 3GB of RAM. This is a pretty powerful chipset for a budget smartphone and in my review of the phone I found it to handle day-to-day tasks and graphic intensive games quite smoothly.

-- With the Realme 2, the company ditches MediaTek and instead goes for an entry-level Snapdragon processor. It is powered by a Snapdragon 450 chipset with 3GB of RAM as the base variant and 4GB of RAM for the top-end version. There is a notable difference in performance between the two phones. In my time with the Realme 2, I found things weren't as smooth or lag-free. Games like PUBG will run on low graphics and you'll continue to see drops in frame rate.

-- Cameras on the Realme 1 and Realme 2 are more or less similar, apart from the fact that the new phone brings a dual camera setup. The primary sensor on the Realme 2 is 13-megapixel like the Realme 1. There is now an extra 2-megapixel secondary sensor which will allow you to capture bokeh shots. Up front, both the phones come with an 8-megapixel sensor. As far as the quality of photos go, both the phones will capture decent pictures in good lighting, although the Realme 2 offers a little more detail and truer colours. In low-light again, the Realme 2 does a little better in capturing detail and colours.

-- One of the more noticeable upgrades with the Realme 2 is the battery. The new phone gets a 4,230mAh battery compared to the 3,210mAh battery inside the Realme 1. This does make the Realme 2 a little heavier than the first iteration, but it also guarantees a longer battery life. Expect a good day and a half of average usage on a single charge. That being said, the Realme 1 also comes with an impressive battery life, offering a full day's worth of juice.

-- Both the phones run Android 8.1 Oreo with Oppo's ColorOS skin on top. The Realme 2 ships with a more recent ColorOS 5.1 skin which brings features like AI Board, Game Space and AI Album, among other things. While both the phones offer facial recognition feature, the Realme 2 now gets a fingerprint sensor as an extra biometric as well.

-- In conclusion, the Realme 2 brings some new features that makes the phone look more 2018 than the Realme 1. It brings a notch, dual cameras, a larger battery and a fingerprint sensor. But at the same time, Realme has also downgraded the phone by going with an HD resolution and Snapdragon 450 chipset. While both the phone are priced identically, the Realme 1 offers a little more value and is more well-rounded phone. But if you want the cheapest notched phone right now, the Realme 2 is your only option. It is also worth mentioning that Realme seems to have discontinued the Rs 8,990 variant of the Realme 1, perhaps to avoid a clash with the successor under Rs 10,000.